...Says Proud Of Tenure
Less than 24 hours after his shocking resignation as Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji has expressed “heartfelt gratitude” to President Goodluck Jonathan and millions of Nigerians who have supported his determined effort to improve the situation of public power supply over the last 14 months.
Nnaji showed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the country twice as minister — in addition to serving the government in the capacity of an adviser, before becoming a ranking cabinet minister in a very challenging and complex sector — a privilege that only a few Nigerians have had.
“I feel particularly proud of the fact that my exit comes at a time that the administration has been able to generate and supply an unprecedented quantum of steady, reliable electric power in the history of our nation,” he said in a statement emailed to THEWILL by Ogbuagu Anikwe, his special assistant on media.
“I am confident enough to allow history and the Nigerian people to judge my performance on the task that I accepted from the president. I had to voluntarily resign the office of minister to retain my integrity, which has in recent days come under scurrilous attacks by powerful vested interests that were hell bent on besmirching the integrity and reputation that I have painstakingly built over the years.
He said the resignation also served to prevent a spillover of these attacks to the president, “who is working very hard to transform the country.” He also reiterated his innocence in the privatisation bidding that triggered his resignation.
“I would like to reiterate that before I accepted to serve as minister, I resigned my directorship of all companies that I had interest in, and put my shares in those companies in a Blind Trust; this means that I was not privy to the day-to-day business decisions of those who ran this Trust.
“In addition, I publicly declared the participation in the privatisation process of a foreign company that did business with a company that I had interest in. This fact came to my knowledge only during the course of evaluating the consortia that were bidding for PHCN successor companies. Consequently, I also voluntarily recused myself from participating in the selection process. These actions, I should think, are in line with the finest traditions of transparency and accountability in governance.”
Nnaji added that his resignation offers him a return to his integrated power projects, which have been designed to accelerate the development of the nation.
He praised staff of the Ministry of Power, Power Holding Company of Nigeria and other agencies for their “dedication to duty, hard work, patriotism and commitment to the common good which have, in spite of all odds, completely moved the power sector in a new direction to the benefit of all our people.”
He equally thanked Nigerians from all parts of the country and even abroad for their ceaseless messages of support and solidarity since his resignation was announced yesterday.
Before his appointment as Minister of Power, Prof. Nnaji was the special adviser on power to President Goodluck Jonathan and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power. This was after an earlier spell in 1993 in charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
| Posted: at | |
Idbabe
TRENDING GISTS 
More Woes As Nigeria's Inflation Rate Climbs To 33.95% in May 2024, Says NBS
Nigerian Man Loses Job In The UK After Fellow Nigerian Reports Him For Sleeping On Duty
German Police Encourage England Fans To Smoke Cannabis Instead Of Drinking Ahead Of EURO 2024
LP Lawmaker, Hon. Ginger Onwusibe Empowers Constituents With Cassava Stems & Tubers Of Yam